Magic tricks and ramen

Vicki got a book of magic tricks from the library and has been working hard on impressing us with her card trick skills. Lexi has been working on some magic tricks, too. Here’s a basic rundown of her version of a card trick:

“Mommy, pick a card.” So I try to pick one from the middle of the deck (of about six cards, mind you). “No, pick THIS one,” she says, pointing to the top card. So, trying not to laugh, I pick that one. “Now, look at it, but don’t tell me what it is. This is very important. DON’T TELL ME WHAT IT IS.” While I’m examining my card, she puts the deck behind her and “shuffles” it in an exaggerated way, so I’m sure to notice what she’s doing. “Okay, now put it back in the deck.” I try to slide it into the middle of the deck, but she says, “No, how about here?” and lifts the top card so I can slide it right underneath. Then she turns around for a second, and then turns back and says triumphantly, “Is THIS your card?” And of course it is! Imagine that!

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On Sundays I usually make a big Sunday dinner, which we eat at around 2:00, carrying on a tradition from Chris's family. Yesterday, still recovering from all the running around I did on Saturday and trying hard to shake off what is threatening to be a really nasty cold, I decided I didn't feel like cooking. Thankfully, Chris fully supported me in this decision. So we had wraps and fruit salad (which means I opened a can of pineapple and a can of mandarin oranges, dumped them together in a bowl, and called it fruit salad) at our usual Sunday dinner time. After getting over the initial shock of not having "mashies" and gravy, everyone was fine with this. So around 6:00 I decided that, since what we ate for "dinner" should really just be considered "lunch", we should probably have some actual dinner. So I cooked up a big pot of ramen noodles and everyone was perfectly happy to eat them. Ellie asked for seconds, and then started running around, so I asked her to sit down and finish her dinner. She looked at me, in all seriousness, and this is what she said:

"It's not dinner, Mommy. It's just ramen."